Two Impossibles Make It Possible
by AnnCarter
Summary: Can the Impossible Girl do the impossible thing and give him his Rose back? Doomsday fix-it fic. Spoilers up to The Time of the Doctor, including.
1. Part One: His Impossible Girl

**AN:** I read this beautiful Doomsday fix-it oneshot called Time in a Bottle by Vampiyaa, and I just had to write my own fix-it fic for it. Can't believe I haven't thought about it earlier.

The oneshot, in case you'd like to read it (and you should): s/10946173/1/Time-In-A-Bottle

* * *

Part One: His Impossible Girl

As the Doctor sat on his chair in his porch on Trezalore, he found himself thinking about the past.

Or rather, _his_ past.

There were so many people he'd lost along the way. _Too_ many. So many of them he couldn't have saved, even if somebody would have warned him he was going to lose them. Amy and Rory, for one; even if he'd have read the book to the end, they were too deeply within the paradox to be able to stop it. And then there was Donna Noble, but he couldn't have saved her, either, not when their timelines were woven together so closely, because she was, after all, born to save him.

And then there was his Rose.

It's been over a thousand years since the last time he saw her, but in his mind she was still _his_ Rose. His beautiful Rose Tyler, who was taken away from him in Canary Wharf. His Rose Tyler, whom he'd sent back to the alternate universe, to live with his human, meta-crisis self. His Rose Tyler, who was probably dead by now, but in his mind was still twenty-two, just like the last time he saw her.

Could he have saved her?

The second time around, he could have. He knew it. After all, he was the one to have given up on her, to have left her. She wasn't taken away. He could have kept her with him in the TARDIS, like they both wanted, until she'd have died in his arms. It was his choice to leave her behind.

But the first time around… could he have saved her?

His younger self spent years thinking about that. In his mind he explored every possibility, every timeline in which he didn't lose her. He considered going back in time and warning himself of Torchwood; going back and stopping Queen Victoria from ever creating it; even burning up the universe to pull Rose back to him from the alternate universe. The universe was, after all, meaningless without her.

He straightened up in his chair. Was that what Clara meant earlier, when she asked him to think about himself, for once?

He had to dismiss the idea. Clara may have been to his entire timeline, but she couldn't remember anything. Even his Time Lord consciousness couldn't keep track of everything he's gone through in those hundreds of years; Clara's human mind most certainly couldn't. And yet, there was something about the way she said it that made him wonder whether she remembered how important Rose was to him.

Thinking back, the Doctor tried to locate all the Claras he'd met. The first one was the one who told him to take this TARDIS, rather than a functioning one (The TARDIS sent him an angry wave and he quickly apologised in his mind). Then she was there the first time he and Susan landed on Earth, but he didn't even notice her. In growing wonder, the Doctor slowly listed all the times he'd seen her before but never noticed her, realising just how important she really was. Truly, he'd never have survived without her.

He froze when he realised she was in Canary Wharf that day.

A few seconds later, he was running down the stairs to find Clara. Being him, he ended up falling over the last couple of stairs and landing on the floor – and didn't that hurt – but he hurried to get up and find his companion.

"Clara." He shook her shoulder gently, trying to wake her up.

"Go away," She mumbled, rolling away from him.

"Clara, wake up."

"Let me sleep," She mumbled sleepily, again trying to shake him off of her.

"It's important," He tried, again shaking her. She groaned and tried to push him away, but eventually, when she realised he wouldn't stop, she sat up and opened her eyes, glaring at him.

"What?" She asked, and if looks could kill the Doctor could have sworn he'd have been dead by the time she finished asking the question.

"You were in Canary Wharf." His voice was quiet. "Do you remember?"

She blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

He almost sighed, but stopped himself in the last moment, knowing she wouldn't like it. "Do you remember the ghosts in London?"

She nodded slowly. It seemed that between her surprise and confusion she forgot he woke her up. "Of course I do. But they weren't really ghosts. They were Cybermen, weren't they?"

He nodded. "Yes, they were. But do you remember where you were that day?"

She frowned as she tried to remember. "I was probably working," She said eventually, after a long silence. "Maybe in the Maitland's house. Why?"

"You were in Canary Wharf." He looked at her intently, as if he was trying to bring up the memories with his eyes. "Don't you remember?"

She shook her head. "Why would I be in Canary Wharf?"

Trying desperately not to show the pain he was feeling, he replied, "Because that's when I'd lost Rose."

She looked at him quietly, slowly understanding what he was implying. "Maybe," She said eventually. "But I can't remember most of it. Do you think I was there to save her?"

"I don't know." He sighed and then sat down on the floor next to her. "Earlier, when you said I should start thinking about myself, I thought maybe you were talking about saving Rose, but…" He looked away for a moment before forcing a smile. "An old man's wishful thinking, perhaps. Go back to sleep."

He started getting up, but to his surprise, she stopped him. "Do you think I could have saved her?" She asked quietly.

"I don't know," He admitted. "Sometimes I think I could have saved her." His eyes became somewhat distant as he thought about losing her. "Maybe nobody could. Maybe it really is just wishful thinking. And maybe if I'd have just noticed you back in Canary Wharf, I could have saved her."

"Then isn't it worth a shot?" She asked softly, surprising him.

"What do you mean?"

"If there's a chance we could save Rose…" She hesitated briefly, biting her lower lip in an uncharacteristic sign of doubt, "Shouldn't we try?"

He stared at her, still not quite sure he knows what she means. "I can't change my past," He said slowly, reminding her that even he had to bow to the laws of time.

"Then how did you save Gallifrey?"

"I…" His eyes found hers and he smiled as a new idea came to his mind. "All I need is the right message."

She returned him a smile. "One would think so."

He laughed quietly. "One certainly would."


	2. Part Two: Her Impossible Mission

Part Two: Her Impossible Mission

The Doctor stared at the screen, trying to understand what the odd message he'd just received meant. Very few people in the universe had the ability to plant a message in his TARDIS, and as far as he knew, none of them knew Gallifreyan. None of them knew that young woman whose picture was now on his screen, at least not as far as he knew.

"Who's she?" Rose asked behind him, making him turn around immediately.

"I don't know," He replied, trying to hide the screen. Even though he had nothing to do with that picture appearing on his screen, he still felt somewhat guilty at the fact she was there when he was with Rose.

She noticed it immediately. "If you don't know her, why are you feeling so guilty?"

"I'm not," He replied, a bit too quickly. She raised her eyebrows questioningly. "I'm not," He insisted, blushing slightly.

"I can tell." She came closer, to his dismay, still looking at the screen. "What does it say?" She asked, tilting her head towards the writing.

He gave up on hiding the message and turned to the screen. "Listen to her," He translated, frowning. "But the weird thing is…" He scratched his head, "It's written in Gallifreyan."

Her eyes lit up with hope as she turned to look at him. "Maybe you were wrong." He frowned again and she hurried to explain herself. "Maybe others survived."

He smiled sadly. He desperately wanted to believe it was possible, but deep down he knew it couldn't be. He'd have known had anyone else survived; he'd have felt it in that part of his brain that always brought him back to Gallifrey when it still existed. "No," He said quietly. "Nobody did."

"Somebody must have sent that message," She pointed out.

He shrugged, even though his mind was still busy with that very same thought. "Somebody probably found that as it is and sent it without even realising what it means." He shoved the screen away and turned towards the navigation system. "Are you sure you want to go home?" He asked, a whining tone sneaking to his voice.

She laughed at the tone of his voice and then nodded. "Yes. We haven't seen mum in so long now that I think the next time she sees us she'll kill both of us."

The Doctor gulped. "Probably me first."

She laughed once again. "So, home?"

He sighed unhappily but nodded. "Home."

* * *

When he saw the ghosts, the Doctor knew something very bad was about to happen.

He didn't know what it was or how he knew it, but he knew, the same way he knew Gallifrey would be gone by the end of the Time War, that something bad was going to happen. And the same way he knew something very bad was about to happen, he knew the message he received was meant to stop it.

As he held Rose's hand, his eyes kept searching for the young woman whose picture he saw. A part of him was terrified when he was separated from Rose in Torchwood, but when they found out what the humans working there were up to, he was too busy trying to avoid becoming a Cyberman – along with Jackie, of course, who couldn't stop shouting and driving him mad – to think about the consequences of their stupid actions.

And then the Daleks got Rose, and he thought his hearts were about to stop.

That was when he saw her.

She was wearing a lab coat like some of the Torchwood employees, but unlike them, she seemed somewhat out of place. Her eyes seemed to be constantly looking for something – until they rested on him for the first time. She didn't seem to even realise it, but the moment she saw him her eyes smiled at him, as if some inner part of her knew she'd found what she was looking for.

The Cybermen snapped him back to reality as they took Jackie, despite his attempts to stop them. He felt his anger beginning to take control of him, but more than anything, he was flooded by his fear for Rose's life. She was down there with the Daleks and it was all his fault. Again.

He kept talking to the Cybermen, stalling for help he wasn't even sure was really coming, and was surprised – to death, almost, which was quite an achievement – when he saw the help was none other than Jake and the rest of the fighters from the alternative universe.

He wanted to punch them – one by one – when they took him back to their universe and told him – rather proudly – how they've been travelling between the universes again and again, but he didn't have the time for it. Instead, he hurried to return to his own universe, focused on finding Rose and Jackie.

He was relieved to find out Jackie was still alive when they got back. "Listen, tell me. Where are you?" He asked, hoping that for once in her life, Jackie would stop panicking and give him a proper answer.

"I don't know. Staircase." She replied through the phone.

"Which one?" He probed, trying to understand where she was. "Is there any sort of sign? Anything to identify it?"

"Yes, a fire extinguisher!"

The Doctor swore silently. Like he'd told Rose once, he could fill books over books in things he wanted to say to Jackie Tyler but shouldn't have. In that moment, though, he focused on the fact he needed to find her to be able to say those things. "Yeah, that helps."

"Wait a minute." He tensed slightly. "It says N-three."

He would've breathed out in relief if it wasn't so strange to the man he was. "North corner, staircase three. Just keep low, we're trying our best." He had to find her, he knew it; but first he had to get Rose back, away from the Daleks.

If he were human, he'd have probably called it a déjà vu.

* * *

When he walked into the Sphere room, he was relieved to see Rose – and Mickey, he had to remind himself – were both alright. She smiled at him the moment she saw him and he grinned back at her, too happy to see her to be able to do anything but return the smile.

"How are you?" He asked as he stopped next to her.

"Oh, same old, you know," She replied, still smiling at him,

"Good. And Mickity McMickey." His fist met Mickey's. "Nice to see you!"

"And you, boss."

"Social interaction will cease!" One of the Daleks ordered, and the Doctor had to use every ounce of his self-control to stop himself from laughing in its face. He couldn't help it, though, when later on Dalek Sek ordered him to open the Ark, and simply laughed. The Daleks were so tiny and pathetic next to him, the Oncoming Storm… and they knew it just as well as he did, even though they refused to admit it.

But then, nothing else mattered, because he had Rose Tyler back with him.

As they ran outside and – following the Daleks – to the top floor of the building, he started planning his response. He didn't know what the Daleks were up to – and he didn't like not knowing – but in this case, it hardly mattered. With the Magnaclamps now secured in his hands, he'd had the final piece he needed for his plan to work.

If only he'd have a way to keep Rose safe and sound, by his side.

But the thing that mattered the most, he had to remind himself, was closing the bridge between the worlds and sending all the Daleks and Cybermen back into the Void, where they came from. Caught in his excitement about his plan, he never once noticed that the young woman walked back into the room where they've been standing.

"Well? Isn't anyone going to ask what is it with the glasses?" He asked, grinning widely.

"What is it with the glasses?" Rose asked, her eyes sparkling as she grinned back at him.

"I can see, that's what!" He replied excitedly. "Because we've got two separate worlds, but in between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding. And the Cybermen travelled through the Void to get here. And you lot," He gestured towards the group coming from the alternate universe, "One world to another, via the Void. Oh, I like that. Via the Void. Look." He took his glasses off and placed them on Rose's eyes. "I've been through it," He said, moving around to show her the movement of the green speckles he knew she'd see. "Do you see?"

"What is it?" She asked, reaching out to touch it, her grin still as wide as his.

"Void stuff."

"Like, er, background radiation!"

"That's it!" He turned her to look at the others. "Look at the others. The only one who hasn't been through the Void – your mother. First time she's looked normal in her life."

"Oi!" Jackie protested, but Rose chuckled.

"But the Daleks lived inside the Void. They're bristling with it. Cybermen, all of them." He ran back to the wall and grinned inwardly when she ran after him excitedly. "I just open the Void and reverse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside."

"Pulling them all in!" She called happily.

"Pulling them all in!" He confirmed, just as happily.

"Sorry, what's the Void?" Mickey asked, causing them both to turn to him.

"The dead space. Some people call it hell."

"So you're sending the Daleks and Cybermen to hell." He turned to Jake. "Man, I told you he was good!"

But the Doctor wasn't looking at him. He was looking at Rose. The way he knew it would, her smile disappeared as she looked at herself through the glasses, slowly understanding the problem he was facing. "But it's like you said. We've all got Void stuff. Me too, because we went to that parallel world. We're all contaminated. We'll get pulled in." She looked up at him, taking the glasses off.

He stopped a few inches from her, looking at her seriously. "That's why you've got to go." She shook her head slightly. "Back to Pete's world. Hey," He turned to Pete, "We should call it that! Pete's World." Turning back to Rose, he continued quietly, "I'm opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side."

He kept looking at her as she tried to process what he was saying. Then, as his pain flooded him, he looked away, turning to Pete and Mickey and answering their questions. When Rose spoke again, silently asking him to tell her he wouldn't be forcing her to spend the rest of her life away from him, his hearts ached so badly he couldn't say a thing but "yeah".

He couldn't believe he was giving up on her any more than she could, but for her, he had to do it.

"Mum," She said, and he had to look up at her. She was so beautiful, more beautiful than he'd ever seen her. Knowing what he had to do killed him inside, every single Time Lord bit of him. "I've had a life with you for nineteen years, but then I met the Doctor, and all the things I've seen him do for me-" He had to fight himself to keep moving towards her with the medallion and stick to his plan, "-for you, for all of us. For the whole stupid planet and every planet out there. He does it alone, mum."

He made eye-contact with Pete. Both men were having the same thought. There was no other choice.

"But not anymore, because now he's got me."

He placed the medallion around Rose's neck and watched her as she disappeared with the rest of them, and he knew he will never be the same again. His Rose – oh, why hadn't he told her how he felt – was gone now. Forever. And he was alone.

She nearly stopped his hearts when she reappeared in their universe, standing right where she stood seconds earlier.

"Once the breach collapses," He said through gritted teeth, "That's it. You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!" _What did he need to do to make her understand she needed to go?_ A part of him wondered.

She looked at him calmly, unaffected by his outburst. "I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never going to leave you. So what can I do to help?"

He stared at her as he ordered her what to do, his mind reeling once again. There had to have been a way to save her. There had to have been a way to stop the Void from taking her. Oh, he was angry with her the way he'd never been, but deep down, he was joyous. He couldn't imagine living without her any more than she could imagine living without him – and her actions now forced him to find a way to keep her there with him.

He couldn't help but smile as the systems came online and he realised she was going to stay with him. His joy was clear, apparently – as she smiled excitedly as she did what he told her to. He grinned inwardly as they opened the Void and everything was sucked back inside, Daleks and Cybermen alike… Until the suction slowly decreased as the lever went the wrong way.

He stared at Rose wide-eyed as she leaned towards the level to pull it upwards, leaving the clamp.

"Rose!" He needed to stop her, needed to hold onto her and keep her here with him, but he could do nothing as she slowly lost her hold and started drifting away towards the Void. He tried to catch her, but it was too late…

And then his fingers closed around someone's hand and he stared up at the face in wonder, somewhere in the back of his mind realising it was the mysterious young woman from the message.

"Pull me closer!" She ordered him, and his hearts skipped a beat when he realised why she was saying that – she was holding Rose, just barely, from being sucked into the Void.

"Who are you?" He managed through his shock. "Why are you helping us?"

She gave him a sad smile but didn't answer his questions. "Come on, you clever boy, help me pull her closer!"

His mind was filled with hundreds of questions, but seeing Rose was in danger, he ignored them all and pulled the woman and Rose closer, until Rose's arms wrapped around his waist, holding on to him as tightly as she could. He moved her so that she was trapped between him and the clamp and then held onto it tightly with both of his hands, keeping Rose safe between his arms.

As suddenly as the suction began, it stopped. The breach sealed itself for good.

The Doctor could barely feel his arms as he let go of the clamp and landed on the floor, feeling somewhat weak and dizzy. He was so close to losing Rose… but there she was, sitting on the floor in front of him, breathing heavily and looking just as shocked as he felt.

And knowing how close he was to losing her, the Doctor couldn't help but act. He didn't know how to tell her what he wanted to tell her, but when he pulled her to him and pressed his lips against hers forcefully, he knew he needn't say a thing. She kissed him back desperately and he grinned at her when he pulled back, unable to do anything else.

"Rose…" He mumbled eventually, still looking at her, smiling widely.

She smiled back at him. "Hello, Doctor."

He hugged her tightly and then helped her up, looking for the mysterious woman. Rose looked around as well, trying to find the brown haired woman who saved her from the Void. The Doctor frowned and was about to call for her when Rose tugged his sleeve gently.

"What?" He asked, turning to her.

She kneeled and picked up a note from the floor. He frowned as she got back up and handed it to him.

"'Run, you clever boy, and remember'?" He asked, looking up at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. But isn't that what she called you?"

He thought back to these long terrifying seconds in which he thought he was going to lose his Rose. _Yes,_ he had to admit. _She did call him that._

"Who was she?" He mumbled, more to himself than to her. "Why did she help us? How did she even get here?"

"I don't know, but…" Rose's shy voice made him look up at her from the note he was holding. "I'm here."

A smile slowly appeared on his lips, showing her just how happy he was that she was there with him. "Yes, you are." He pulled her to him again, holding her as close to him as he could as he buried his face in her neck. "And I'm never letting you go again."

She smiled and gently kissed his shoulder. "Me neither," She promised him. Then, as if a new thought came to her mind, she mumbled, "Does that mean things are going to get domestic?"

He burst out laughing against her skin. "If you want them to, they will," He mumbled against her neck. "I don't care, as long as you're here."


End file.
